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By Suzanne Haugh
Staff Writer
DUWNWOODY—They came from throughout the Archdiocese of Atlanta to mark
the anniversary of their brother priests’ ordinations at the jubilee Mass
held May 26 at All Saints Church, Dunwoody.
More than 50 archdiocesan priests listened to Scripture and then gathered
around the altar to consecrate the eucharistic meal together.
Among those who joined Archbishop John F. Donoghue around the altar were the
four archdiocesan priests and one religious order priest celebrating their
golden and silver jubilees.
Msgr. R. Donald Kiernan, pastor of All Saints, celebrated the 50th
anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. Those celebrating the 25th
anniversary of their ordination were Father Pat Bishop, pastor of the Church of
the Transfiguration, Marietta; Father Edward Branch, campus minister at Atlanta
University; Father Ralph Olek, SM, English teacher at Marist School, Atlanta,
and Father Steven Yander, chaplain at St. Joseph's Hospital, Atlanta.
In his homily during the Mass, Archbishop Donoghue spoke of the confusion
and fears Christ’s disciples must have felt after witnessing events, such
as the Transfiguration, and hearing Christ speak of the cost of discipleship.
“We may ask ourselves, whether they were frightened so much by His talk
of approaching death, or whether they were beginning to realize the personal
sacrifice our Lord wants from those who will follow Him. For it is difficult to
be poor, it is difficult to serve, it is difficult to live by faith when the
prayer of our mind and heart is that of the blind man, ‘Master, I want to
see.’”
How much more difficult it is to endure these sacrifices without “the
consolations of marriage and family life," the archbishop said. While he
acknowledged the challenge facing priests, the archbishop rejected the notion
that “priests are like other men, and that too much must not be expected
of any human being.”
“This simply is not true–it is not what Christ called His priests
to be, and it is not in the tradition of the living Apostolic Church,” he
said.
Their sacrifice, however, gains priests much in return.
“For His sake, priests over countless generations have given up family
and fortune, in order to gain what He offers–a hundred times more of
houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, land … and the churches we inhabit and
enhance for the glory of God.”
Jubilees mark the passage of time and as one grows older one tends to
concentrate more on “God, the Omega, the end-point,” the archbishop
said.
“But while time is left, dear friends … let us welcome these
occasions, fit occasions to contemplate the combined service of our
jubilarians, and in celebration of their work, fit occasions to experience the
blessing that God sends upon all of us, for our work as well.”
Christ has freed us to follow him, the archbishop said.
"May our hearts and minds do justice now to the Price of our
redemption, as we promise to work on in His love, to be better priests, and
better people, than we have ever been before."
The jubilarians are:
MSGR. R. DONALD KIERNAN
Archbishop Richard Cardinal Cushing of Boston ordained Msgr. R. Donald
Kiernan in May 1949 at Holy Cross Cathedral in Boston. He was assigned as
assistant rector to the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Savannah until
becoming assistant pastor of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Atlanta,
in November 1952. He went on to serve as pastor of many churches throughout the
archdiocese: St. Peter's Church, LaGrange; St. Anna's Church, Monroe; St.
Joseph's Church, Athens; St. Bernadette's Church, Cedartown; St. Michael’s
Church, Gainesvville; St. Anthony's Church, Atlanta; St. Jude the Apostle
Church, Sandy Springs, and Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Atlanta. He is
currently pastor at All Saints Church, Dunwoody.
Pope Paul VI bestowed the prelate of honor on Msgr. Kiernan in 1969 and Pope
John Paul I conferred upon him the Protonotary Apostolic, the highest rank of
monsignor, in 1979.
Msgr. Kiernan’s achievements include an active civic life. He
co-founded the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police in 1962 and served as
its director and chaplain for over 20 years. He has been chaplain for many
organizations including the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the
Georgia State Patrol, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the DeKalb County
Police Department. In 1987, he received the Howard “Red” Atherton
Award for his commitment to the betterment of local government in Georgia.
Gov. Zell Miller appointed Msgr. Kiernan to serve on the Criminal Justice
Coordinating Council, and he was instrumental in helping the General Assembly
of Georgia pass a bill that authorized chaplains to be certified by the Peace
Officers Standards and Training Council. Sen. Paul Coverdell appointed him in
1993 to the selection committee of candidates for the U.S. Service Academies.
He has also served on the executive committee of the Metropolitan Atlanta
Area Boy Scouts of America and the board of the United States Organization, and
was presented the key to the City of Savannah in 1995.
FATHER PAT BISHOP
A native Atlantan, Father Pat Bishop was ordained to the priesthood on May
18, 1974, at the Cathedral of Christ the King. He first served as parochial
vicar at Holy Cross Church, Atlanta, from 1974-76 before his assignment to St.
Thomas More Church, Decatur, and then to Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Decatur,
from 1976-79. He earned a master's degree in education from Georgia State
University while serving from 1979-83 as spiritual director at St. Pius X High
School, Atlanta. From 1983-89, Father Bishop was pastor at the Church of St.
Bernadette in Cedartown where he was also active in numerous community
organizations including the NAACP, the Heart Association and the Child Abuse
Council. He also served as president of the Cedartown Ministerial Association
and Lions Club. While there, he also wrote a weekly column called “In the
Land of the Living” for the Cedartown Standard newspaper.
He was next assigned to the Church of the Transfiguration as its pastor and
has served there since 1989.
FATHER EDWARD B. BRANCH
Ordained for the Diocese of Louisville, Ky., in 1974, Father Edward Branch
was assigned to churches within Louisville from 1974-79. He then became pastor
and director of St. Benedict the Black Church and Newman Center for Grambling
State University in Grambling, La., from 1979-82. He spent eight years as a
member of the Congregation of Xaverian Brothers, involved in secondary
education.
In 1991, he completed the doctorate program in ministry at Howard University
School of Divinity in Washington, D.C., following a six-year tenure as
university chaplain and director of campus ministry at the Catholic University
of America.
He currently serves as the Catholic chaplain for the Atlanta University
Center.
FATHER RALPH F. OLEK, SM
Father Ralph Olek joined the seminary to become a Marist priest as a
sophomore in high school. He was ordained at St. Francis of Assisi Church in
Cleveland, Ohio, in 1974 after which he was first assigned to the Marist School
in Atlanta. He has taught at Marist schools for 21 years, including those in
New Zealand and Hawaii, but has resided primarily at the Marist School in
Atlanta. He also served as campus minister at the Neumann Center in Azusa,
Calif., from 1988-92.
FATHER STEVEN L. YANDER
After his ordination in 1974, Father Steven Yander began serving the
community at Holy Family Church in East Marietta during the parish's second
year of existence. From there he was assigned to St. John the Evangelist Church
in Hapeville, and later, to the Church of the Transfiguration in Marietta. He
pursued special studies at Boston College and returned to work within the
religious education office while living at Our Lady of Lourdes Church for six
months.
He served at St. John Vianney in Lithia Springs before becoming first pastor
of St. Anthony's Church in Blue Ridge and its mission of Good Samaritan Church
in Ellijay. While he was there, a new church was constructed at St.
Anthony’s.
Father Yander served as pastor of Sacred Heart Church in downtown Atlanta
and was parochial vicar at St. Catherine of Siena Church in Kennesaw before
becoming chaplain at St. Joseph's Hospital in Atlanta, his current assignment.
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